Ensuring equality, a collective effort

'We have a long way to go':

By Sajitha PREMATUNGE

[email protected]
 

During a previous ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) conference held in Bangkok, commemorating International Women's Day, a westerner said that he was pleasantly surprised to see how well women are treated at Sri Lankan garment factories, as opposed to East Asian countries. But as another session of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee was held in Kualalumpur last month, it was apparent that much more needs to be done. As the first Sri Lankan parliamentarian - endowed with the prestigious position of representative, Asia region - Ferial Ashraff, Minister of Housing and Common Amenities, was confident of what was expected of her.

She, with much modesty and pride, recalled the fact that the Committee on Women and Gender Issues had been established back in the 1990s and the first Chairperson was Shrimanee Athulathmudali. But the Asia region has always been represented by one of the big countries like India and Pakistan.

This was the first time in history a woman parliamentarian was selected to represent the Asian Region. "You learn a lot about what is happening in the rest of the world." said Minister Ferial Ashraff, reminiscing her experience.

"Being in that Committee - discussing the problems women face the world over - was a real eye opener. It was like crying over a pair of shoes, until you see a person without legs."

The minister said that the issues brought out at the meeting were so shocking. And inspite of all the 'disadvantages' of being a Sri Lankan, that people often complain about, she said that one feels glad about being a Sri Lankan woman. The Minister pointed out that, among all the negatives - compared with other countries - Sri Lankan women are lucky. "We have to give that credit to our motherland."

Moreover, the Minister acknowledged the work done by women activists in Sri Lanka, towards the upliftment of women's living standards. "Being a politician I do not represent all women. Parliamentarians take it up in the parliament, but it's the women activists who actually go out into the field and put the theories into practice. And for that they need to be commended."

She pointed out the fact that the free education in Sri Lanka does not discern between a girl child and a boy child. And this is one of the reasons that Sri Lankan women are doing comparatively better than their counterparts in other countries of the Asian region. Moreover, maternity health care facilities has resulted in a very low infant mortality rate compared to that of other countries in the region.

Our maternal mortality rate is equivalent to that of a developed country. "These figures as well as the number of women students in universities speak a lot for equality.

And when these facts were presented at the committee meeting some of the representatives were surprised that Sri Lanka was showing so much promise as a developing country."

But among all the positives there are negatives that require immediate attention. Sri Lanka has a lot of firsts.

Among which is world's first woman Prime Minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. However, the strength of women parliamentarians is still 4 per cent. How to improve women's participation in politics has also been discussed at the meeting.

Another issue that was discussed was domestic violence, an issue - identified by the minister - which Sri Lanka needs to work on. But Sri Lanka's state of domestic violence is better, compared to that of India, where discrimination has reached the extreme of infanticide.

But India and Sri Lanka are not the only countries that are compelled to deal with the problem.

As indicated by the proceedings of the committee meeting, this is common to all commonwealth countries as well.

The Minister said that she intends to work closely with women's groups and activists to combat domestic violence.

"When one decides to be violent the best 'pick' is always the wife. This is a stigma on all our plus points."

But she also assured that whatever proceedings would be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Women's Affairs to avoid duplication. "Minister Sumedha Jayasena is already working towards eradication of domestic violence with NOGs and activists. We have to collaborate to reduce statistics of domestic violence stacked against Sri Lanka."

The issue of migrant workers was also brought into the lime light at the proceedings.

She with much regret admitted that there was no way to put a stop to this since the Sri Lankan economy is not yet strong enough to provide these women with an alternative means of support.

They undergo much abuse, and most lose the battle along the way. They have literally no education, no exposure and they are underpaid.

They lack the most elementary and simple must-haves like telephone etiquette and how to use a toilet. And Sri Lanka has up to now sadly failed to come to terms with it.

The minister attributed this to lack of proper education. "It's true that Sri Lankan education is free. But it needs new input in terms of capacity building. It should not be entirely focused on learning off text books."

We attribute some of the problems faced by women-lead households to the war, but the minister pointed out that, whether it is soldiers or terrorists who die in the war it is Sri Lankan women who suffer in the end.

"Whatever positive aspects we may be able to boast of, we still have a long way to go in terms of achieving equality. We women have not been very strong in attempting to develop our own standards." She reiterated the fact that the standard of these women can be uplifted only if all parties concerned - such as women activists, NGOs as well as the government get together. "We have to get the parliament involved in this. A whole lot of awareness is required to achieve this objective. Because women play such a pivotal role in the country today they simply can't be left out."

Pic: Kavindra Perera